Google Adds New Options to Google My Business Just in Time for the Holiday Season

Not long ago, we analyzed some changes that occurred to Google My Business.

Now the search engine giant is once again causing waves by adding - and improving on - new features to the platform. Of course, part of what makes our Cobalt Formulaᵀᴹ so effective is how extensively our Cobalt Digital Marketing catalysts comb the Internet for any bit of information that will get our clients those crucial holiday leads.

This time, we are turning our gaze to these changes to Google My Business and analyzing how they can positively affect your business.

What is Google My Business?

Just as a refresher, Google My Business (GMB) is an app developed by Google that helps businesses improve website user experiences when they do a local search. For example in GMB’s Q&A, customers are allowed the opportunity to ask questions about a particular business via their profile.

It even allows business owners to pin frequently asked questions along with the top answers. This is extremely convenient for potential clients and has numerous benefits for business owners as well.

For instance, if your hours of operation will be changing during the holiday season, GMB allows you to plug in the updated hours directly to your business profile, informing customers that are performing a quick Google search.

Other key features are being implemented to will make the life of a business owner just a bit easier.

What Was Recently Added?

This time around GMB has done it again, streamlining the updating process for Business Profiles on Google and managing what search engine users see when they look up your business online.

Yet, the most game-changing update occurred to a feature that has been around for a while.

Google Posts was released last year as Google’s answer to social media searches because more business search activity was being conducted through Facebook than through Google search. With Google Posts, organizations were granted the ability to create a brief update which would then be listed in Google searches.

Now, Google Posts is becoming a hot item to use in your 2018 digital marketing arsenal because, with a press of a new Post button in the app, you can upload photos and create enticing offers or other types of events and upload them to your Business Profile. Let’s not forget that you can also still manage and upload new business information on Google from the Profile tab - it’ll even update across Search and Maps.

Not only was Google Posts improved upon, but a new “Customers” tab has also been added as well.

This nifty little tab allows you to respond to customer reviews, post current offers to entice clients, and, in time, will also allow you to respond in real time from your own device. The notifications system will also inform you when a new customer connects with your business.

The last major addition that was implemented in the recent update: how people connect with your business. This presentation improvement to the home screen is a digital marketer’s dream, giving crucial data and insights—relevant metrics and statistics presented in a Google Analytics style—of where these connections are coming from.

From there, you can tailor a masterful campaign to further attract clients through that medium or improve on another that may not be performing at an optimal state.

As Google works to make your life as a business owner easier, our Cobalt Formulaᵀᴹ continues to create big returns for our clients’ investment.

Digital marketing is blowing traditional forms of advertising out of the water, and with Cobalt Digital Marketing and our Cobalt Formulaᵀᴹ, you get for what you pay for: experienced digital marketers that have a proven track record of creating big returns that their clients can truly appreciate.

Contact us today at 956-303-6555 to get started.